Blackboard 9: Teacher s Guide Creating Course Content 1
How to Use this Guide This guide is based on the Blackboard documentation available at: http://library.blackboard.com/ref/ab5e0a54-5095-456f-8738-3df64311417a/index.htm You can either access specific tasks or work through the whole document. Purpose of this Document The elearning Platform Review panel has designed this guide to support users of Blackboard 9. The aim of this document is to give an overview of how Blackboard can be used to create and customise web-based learning and teaching content. Learning Outcomes When you have completed the tasks in this guide you should be able to: Log into Blackboard, and edit your profile Navigate around various views of Blackboard and find the key features Customise your Blackboard course web site Upload, add, modify and remove some basic resources/activities to your course 2
Introducing the Course You will be issued with a username and password. Content files for the tasks can be downloaded from the elearning Platform Review web site onto your desktop. The link is http://lmsreview.edc.polyu.edu.hk. 1.1 Login details You will be allocated a username and password for this review session. You have been allocated the role of teacher in a blank course. The format of the session will be a hands-on session. This will give you a brief overview of how you can use different types of features within Blackboard. 1.2 Content files Content files for the tasks can be downloaded from the elearning Platform Review web site onto your desktop. The link is http://lmsreview.edc.polyu.edu.hk. 3
Task 1. Logging into Blackboard and Orientation After completing this task you should: have logged into the Blackboard system know how and where to log out know where the courses are Method Type in your username and password and log into Blackboard. Explore the entry page. 1.1 TASK: Logging in Browse to: http://bbng.polyu.edu.hk Enter the login details provided. Click on the Login button. 1.2 TASK: Orientation Blackboard provides a single entry point to all your courses. Click on each item to explore the interface. Make sure you know where to find the courses you teach or study, how to access the built-in tools, and how to log out. 4
The logout facility appears in this part of the page throughout Blackboard. By default the My Institution tab is shown when you first login. Courses you are enrolled on are listed Blocks with built-in tools are available and can be configured to be visible. 5
Task 2. Changing your Personal Details After completing this task you should be able to: edit your personal information Method You will access your own profile and add some information. 2.1 TASK: Updating your details First click My Places at the top of the screen (near the Logout button) In My Places click on Personal Information. Or Click on Personal Information in the Tools block in the Content panel. Then click Edit Personal Information Edit your details and add/change your email address Scroll down and click on Submit at the bottom of the page to save your changes. You should then see your updated profile in the User Directory in the Tools block. 6
Note: You can also add staff information for specific courses. Go to Contacts in the Control Panel. Then click Create Contact. Here you can add the staff profile information including photos and personal links. Task 3. Exploring a Course Web Site After completing this task you should be able to: identify the courses you are working on use/understand the editing button, the main navigation area for content, and the homepage Method You will access your sandbox course and explore some of the features of the interface. 3.1 TASK: Accessing a course Look at the courses you are enrolled on in the My Courses block. o discovery_blackboard. You have been enrolled as a student on this course. o sandbox_blackboard. You have been enrolled as a teacher on this course. Click on sandbox_blackboard to see your course home page. You are a teacher on this course. Note: The home page is the default start page for new courses that can be changed by the instructor. It informs students of new content and due dates. It is divided into modules. 3.2 TASK: Exploring the course interface Turn on Edit Mode to see instructor controls. Courses in Blackboard contain content and tools for Teaching & Learning. The two narrower columns on the left contain information panels the content panel or course menu (for developing content) and the Control Panel (for course management). 7
Go to the top panel. This is the main access point for content. Click on Information. This opens up a Content frame. It is currently empty but this is where you build content for course Information. To add a new content area click on +, and then type in a new name in the Create This icon means content is empty Content Area field, for example, Getting Started. Your new course content menu link appears. Note: Checking Available to Users makes the course available to students. Leaving it unchecked means the course can be developed before being made available to students. Task 4. Course Settings After completing this task you should be able to: customise your course settings know which settings should NOT be changed Method You will use Customization in the Control Panel block to edit the customization properties of the course. Note: Customization allows instructors to control how they present their courses in Blackboard. Customization settings include course availability, guest and observer access, enrollment, availability of course tools, and style. 8
Changing the settings will affect your course and how the students interface the content. The fields of some settings should be left to the default value. 4.1 TASK: Accessing the course settings Navigate to your course homepage (see Task 3.1 if unsure) In the Control Panel block click on Customization 4.2 TASK: Change settings of the Course change course name, add a description, change classification, set availability, and set course duration. Click on Properties in Customization (Control Panel) Change the name of the course. Enter a description of the course In Classification select the subject area that best describes the course. Make the course available to students. Select specific dates for the duration of the course. 9
Task 5. Adding an Announcement After completing this task you should be able to: add an announcement to a course Method You will use Announcements in the Course Tools area of the Control Panel to place a course announcement. 5.1 TASK: Adding an announcement Click Announcements in the Course Tools area of the Control Panel Click Create Announcement Enter details of your announcement. In Subject box enter: Office Hours In Message box add: Please note that my office hours this semester will be 10-6. Select Permanent Announcement to create an Announcement that does not 10
expire. Check Override User Notification if you want the announcement to be sent by email to everyone enrolled in the course. This will ensure that all users are aware of the announcement even if they do not login to the course. Click on Submit to save changes. Note: To change on an existing announcement click edit from the contextual menu. 5.2 TASK: Viewing your announcement Return to the course home page and go to My Announcements block. You can see the headline of your post listed in the My Announcements block. Click on more to see the announcement in full. Note: It can also be seen in the What s New block. Task 6. Uploading Course Materials & Creating Basic Content After completing these tasks you should be able to: understand the Blackboard content management concept upload files move and delete folders and files 11
Method You will use the Content block to upload course materials. Note: In Blackboard you have to add the files to a content area associated with a course before the learning material can be made available to students. It is very important to think about the structure of your information before you start to build the course. It is a good idea to structure your information into folders. You can add different types of files (web pages, audio files, video files, Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, spreadsheets or Flash animations) into your course and they will be stored within the Blackboard server. Once your files are on the server they can then be moved, renamed, edited or deleted. 6.1 TASK: Accessing the content area and making a new content area A content area is a container for course material (e.g. notes, tests, & assignments). First, you need to create a new Content area (see Task 3.2). In the Content panel click on +, and then type in a new name in the Create Content Area field, for example, Blackboard Review. Make it available to students. Submit. The new content area appears in the course menu. Open the content area. 6.2 TASK: Creating a new item for the content area Note: The files on your desktop for uploading are: Blackboard.doc blackboard_logo.jpg Funny Downloads Funny Videos Parking Problems.wmv PrettyBluePlanet.pps. 12
Click on Create Item. Insert Course Description in the Name field. Add in the text field: This course will provide an introduction to Blackboard. Attach a file (see note above). Under Options make content available and Schedule when it will be available. Submit The new item and course description are displayed in the Blackboard Review content area. 6.3 TASK: Creating a folder for the content area Click on Build and then Create Folder in the drop-down menu. Type in the folder name Unit 1 You have the option to add text to provide a description of the folder contents. Leave this blank. In the Options section, allow users to view the content. Ignore the date restrictions option. Scroll down the page and press the Submit button. The folder you have just created should now appear listed in the Content area. You can add content to this folder by repeating steps in Task 6.2 (after clicking on the name of the folder). 6.4 TASK: Moving files You can move or copy content items from one of your courses to another of your courses, and from one folder to another folder in the same course. Open content area, Blackboard Review. Make sure Edit Mode is on. Click here for contextual menu. 13
Select Copy from the contextual menu for content item, Unit 1. Select the Destination Course from the drop-down menu. (The default setting is the current course). Browse to select the Destination Folder. Select Yes for Delete Item After Copy. (Select No if you just want to copy). 6.5 TASK: Deleting files Deleting folders or files is similar to copy and moving files. Click on the contextual menu of the content item you want to delete. Click Delete. Task 7. Creating and Editing Course Materials using Blackboard Tools After completing these tasks you should be able to: understand what some of the Blackboard tools can do add a forum to your course Method You will use tools to add course materials. In Blackboard 9 there are many different tools that you can use for your course. Click on Tools in the content panel to view the different tools in Blackboard. You can also view some of these tools as well as other tools in Course Tools in the Control Panel. To find out more click on Manual in the Control Panel. 7.4 TASK: Creating and Editing Forums Forums are used to organise threads. Follow these steps to open the Create Forum page: Click Discussions in the course menu or Discussion Board from the Course Tools area of the Control Panel. 14
Click Create Forum. Insert Student Forum as the Forum Name. In Forum description, type : Any student can create a new discussion thread and all posts to the thread will be sent by email to all the participants. Make forum available to all users. Keep default settings but allow members to subscribe to forum. Submit. To edit: Locate Student Forum and click Edit from its contextual menu. The discussion forum has been created. You can now add a discussion. Task 8. Linking to Web sites or Uploaded Content After completing these tasks you should be able to: make a link to a website Method You will use the External Link facility in the content area to add web references to your course. 8.1 TASK: Adding a web site link Go into Blackboard Review and click on Build. In the drop-down menu click on Create External Link. 15
On the next screen type in a name: Hong Kong Polytechnic University and a summary: PolyU web site. Type in the URL of the web site. Open in New Window. Keep other default settings. Submit. In the Blackboard Review content area click on the PolyU link. It should appear in a popup window. Try again but this time don t select New Window. See what happens. Task 9. Assignments After completing these tasks you should be able to: Create an assignment in Blackboard Method You will use the content area, Blackboard Review to create an assignment for your students. In Blackboard assignments are added to a content area. Students may access the assignment, complete it in a separate file, and send it back to the instructor. The instructor may respond to each student separately, sending comments about their individual assignment. Note: Once a student completes and submits an assignment, the instructor may access this file in the Grade Center. 9.1 TASK: Adding an Assignment Open the content area, Blackboard Review. Make sure Edit Mode is ON. Click Evaluate. Select Create Assignment Type in an Assignment name : Blackboard Review Write a Description for the 16
assignment. These are the questions and instructions for the students to follow. Define the Grade type and the Available and Due dates for submission. Click Submit. You can use one of the dummy student accounts to access the student view. Task 10. Quizzes You can create a test in the content area of a course. There are a number of online tutorials looking at assessment in Blackboard. Check them out if you have time as well as the online manual. 17